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Week of 22 October 1999 |
Vol. III, No. 11 |
Sports
Starr's "process" means success for 13th-ranked field hockey Terriers
By Brian Fitzgerald
The BU field hockey Terriers, who are undefeated in their conference and ranked 13th in the nation, may be going places this season. Still, for Coach Sally Starr, there's no place like home: if BU finishes the season in first place, the America East playoffs, which begin November 5, will be at Nickerson Field.
"If we can take care of the teams on the remainder of the schedule, we'll host the conference tournament," says Starr. The Terriers, by virtue of their stellar 14-2 overall record, also stand a good chance of hosting the first round of the NCAA tournament a week later. And considering the fact that the national Final Four will take place at Northeastern November 19, BU might not have to hit the road that much in the postseason.
Midfielder Jaclyn Mele (SAR'00),
who is ninth on the BU all-time list for assists,
is also one of the team's top defensive players.
Photo by Albert L'Etoile
That's good news for a team that is undefeated at
home. But BU is also a well-traveled team that doesn't let
up in enemy territory: the Terriers played their first seven
games (and nine of the first ten) on other campuses,
including two in California, three south of the Mason-Dixon
line, and one in Maine's northern woods. "We started with
the whole month of September on the road," says Starr. "Now
we'll be content to ride out the rest of the season mostly
in Boston." Three of BU's five remaining games will be
played on Nickerson Field. And of the Terriers' two away
games, the Northeastern contest will be played in Brookline,
giving BU fans a chance to support their team.
BU began its road rage with a Golden State sweep, defeating UC-Berkeley, 2-1, and Stanford, 4-1. It was the game against defending national champion Old Dominion on October 2, however, that prompted visions of a season that could rival the program's best campaigns of the past. "We were down 4-1 against Old Dominion, but we managed to tie it, 5-5, with 12 minutes to play," says Starr. Although BU lost, 6-5, the fact that they could challenge a sixth-ranked team was a boost to the Terriers' confidence. Good teams can come from behind, and the Terriers proved it four days later against UMass-Amherst. BU managed to pull off a 2-1 overtime victory against the Minutewomen.
The Terrier schedule is not an easy one. It includes eight teams that made it to the 1998 NCAA tournament. With Old Dominion in the past, BU still has to play two other 1998 Final Four teams: Princeton and Connecticut.
At this point, comparisons to the dominant 1993 BU team (17-5-0) are unavoidable. That squad was undefeated in the conference. In some ways, however, this year's Terriers remind Starr of the number four-ranked 1985 team, which also had 17 wins. The 1985 Terriers